Several weeks ago the news hit the web like wildfire. In case you have been trapped in suspended animation by some nefarious supervillain, ABC have a new album due out on May 27th, and it’s their first one since 2008’s excellent “Traffic.” When I last heard scant word about Martin Fry’s next album, it was in 2011 when ABC had revamped their website and had signed with EMI. Since then, a lot of posts have happened. A few live performances of “The Lexicon Of Love” complete with orchestra notwithstanding, there was not been a lot of activity to report on. This has all changed. What had all the kids talking was that the new ABC album is due out in five weeks and it is called…“The Lexicon Of Love II!” <insert dramatic stinger…what the hell, why not two dramatic stingers!!>

Phew! Can you feel the tension that has built up for 34 years dissipating? He’s finally doing what everyone and their monkey wanted back in 1983! “Better late than never,” they’ll say! Well, I’m here to say that in this Monk’s case, the tension is only just starting to build. First of all, let’s see this vaunted album and view its contents.

Virgin | UK | CD | 2016 [click to enlarge]

ABC: The Lexicon Of Love II UK CD [2016]

The Flames Of Desire

Viva Love

Ten Below Zero

Confessions Of A fool

Singer Not The Song

the Ship Of The Seasick Sailor

Kiss Me Goodbye

I Believe In Love

The Love Inside The Love

Brighter Than The Sun

Viva Love Reprise

Man-o-Manischewitz! That cover is not taking any chances at all! It is making absolutely certain that all and sundry know that the sequel that everyone and their pet chinchilla wanted in 1983 is getting ready to drop…now! Of course, the big difference is that Martin Fry is no longer front and center. Now he’s the éminence grise; the older, wiser fool watching the next generation get all beaten up in the game of love. I like the conceit, but the rigid format aping the original is not especially inspired.

The leading pre-release single is a song that should be familiar to any die-hard ABC fans. “Viva Love” first appeared in 2004 on this [see left] 3xCD compilation from the Netherlands called “The Ultimate Collection.” Obviously, the song had been hanging around for a while. The version that has previously surfaced on this release in a Brothers In Rhythm edit was a decent enough song. I’m fully confident that the version on this album has been completely renovated [checks]. For a start, Fry has enlisted Anne Dudley to once again orchestrate the string arrangements for this album as she did on the first “Lexicon” album. I’m guessing that the “Lexicon” live shows four years ago put the notion on Fry’s mind to revisit these sounds and themes and to his credit, he’s said that the album is definitely from his perspective of today. Listening to the new “Viva Love” in the iTunes store reveals that the album production has a warm, string laden sound and is more engaging than the first version and IS redolent of the mid-70s soul vibe that Fry knows and loves.

While the notions of sequels [aren’t they better left to the likes of Meatloaf?] gives me pause, the fact is that I’ve really loved the last two ABC albums that were released in 1997, 2008. I’d prefer them not to take a decade to gestate, but this is no longer your father’s music industry we’re living with. Fry is fortunate that majors are still interested. I did notice an interesting detail at the iTunes store when I sampled “Viva Love.” The music was owned by Fry’s company “Blatant Music” and was licensed to Virgin/EMI of UMG, so Fry is holding his cards smartly.

While word has gotten out that Ms. Dudley has co-written some of the songs here, so has one Rob Fusari, who was unknown to me, but he apparently has writing credits on Beyoncé and Lady Gaga hits. [Monk furrows brow]. Another co-writer is Marcus Vere of… Living In A Box. I can’t speak for your mileage, but I considered Living In A Box the cut price ABC for the indiscriminate. The final tidbit of information that almost gives me encouragement against the sobering facts of his co-writers, was that the album was titled by the record company, and not Fry. One imagines, that it may have been a condition of their distribution of the album that everyone and their pet ferret was clamoring for in 1983. For the record, I was one of those [sans ferret] back then, but a few months later, I came to realize the error of my ways, and when I finally bought “Beauty Stab,” I felt it was a bold, under appreciated album.

Perhaps I shouldn’t worry unduly. While “Skyscraping” is my favorite ABC album with Glenn Gregory and Keith Lowndes writing the tunes with Fry, “Traffic” with co-writing by the unknown Chuck Kentis, was almost as good. He may not be especially prolific, but when Fry puts out an album these days, he’s not wasting anyone’s time. So I will be there will bells on May 27th. The question is: which format shall I buy? The ABC webstore has some pricey choices.

This puppy includes a listening party in London with Fry and Dudley for your …[gulp] $425!!

The Box Inside The Box [£300/$425]

“The Lexicon of Love II” vinyl LP

“Traffic” vinyl LP

“Six Songs on a Sunday in Summer” DVD – ABC performing a festival set

“The Lexicon of Love Live at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane” DVD – ABC featuring Anne

Dudley and Southbank Sinfonia performing an orchestral Lexicon of Love in it’s

entirety.

“The Lexicon of Love II – The making of the new album” DVD

“The Booklet”- a unique insight into the world of ABC

Deluxe AAA souvenir Laminate

Admission to an exclusive listening party on May 20th with Martin Fry and Anne Dudley in London

Wow! That’s a lotta clams! While normally these hyper-deluxe boxed sets have unique music that tempts me against my financial realities, this one is stuffed with exclusive DVD content instead of music. That’s different. Very different. Of course, the main event is a listening party on May 20th with Fry and Dudley in London, so that’s off limits to the likes of me any way. The same package minus the listening party is a scant £100/$143. Still not tempting. The signed test pressing of the new LP for $110 is already sold out, but there is a signed CD, limited to 500 worldwide, for $29. That’s more in line with my budget, but I would probably forego the autograph and pocket enough to buy a few other titles I want. I am concerned that a standard CD is not on the US Amazon store as a pre-order. Does this imply that there will only be 500 CDs [all signed] of this title in the world in the year 2016? Hmm. Must investigate this further I probably wouldn’t buy this as a DL only. Join us next month to see what course of action I eventually take on this pressing topic of concern! Meanwhile, we can discuss this further in the comments.

79 Responses to ABC Play The Sequel Game with “Lexicon Of Love II” Due Next Month

I am so excited for this. Absolutely. The writing credits give me some pause but the presence of Anne Dudley is helping a lot. And, being 2016 I need a surprise that doesn’t involve death (Prince, Bowie) or a SUPER cruddy album (I’m talking about you Tennant and Lowe),

I’ve probably opined this on your boards before but the biggest mistake with the Lexicon of Love being followed up by Beauty Stab was the evolution of it all. If they led with Beauty Stab it would still have been an acclaimed lp, not LoL groundshaking but I think the would have been on critics radar as a group identified as ”watch these guys, they’re gonna go places.” The followed up Avalon with Manifesto! It’s not a bad thing per se, we were all waiting for LoL mach II and we didn’t get it Maybe we will now, maybe we won’t. After a SUPER disappointment I would like to thing that the only way is up right now.

Tim – Well, it took guts to follow “Avalon” with “Manifesto!” I read the devastating reviews but liked “That Was Then And This Is Now” anyway. After getting the impression that I would be disappointed by it, I bought the LP and discovered that it was very interesting, especially to a big fan of “Flesh + Blood” whose rhythm section they picked for it. Still, the ghost of Roxy Music hovered over this band until “How To Be A Zillionaire” hit! That third album is my favorite of the first three!

They’ve all aged well in their own ways. I loathed Beauty Stab initially because of what it was not. Then I got HtbaZ and I thought well the magic is kinda back, then there was Alphabet City, which, if you took the best of Zillionaire and married it with the best of Alphabet City you may just have had the original circa 1980’s follow up to Lexicon that we all wanted. Basically lose Jealous Lover and Bad Blood and replace them with Be Near Me and Ocean Blue and you’re headed in the right direction, there’s even some on Beauty Stab that wouldn’t be wildly out of place in that mix. Tweak the running order a bit and viola, LoL II We’ll see I am sincerely excited for this one.

Tim – Good choices for upgrading “Alphabet City!” I thought that “S.O.S.” from “Beauty Stab” was on the wrong album. But for me, “Alphabet City” was the first disappointing ABC album because it was “Lexicon Of Love II” minus the inspiration. Of course, Fry had Hodgkins’ Disease at the time so I understand why it was a little thin on the ground. But that was the tipping point for my ABC fandom until “Skyscraping” rekindled the flame.

Tim – I’d love to know what you don’t like about Super. I find it to be a really satisfying listen. I know that it may seem as a risk to some fans to base a second album in a row on the dancefloor, but I hear a lot of joy in what Tennant and Lowe have created. Super feels like it comes from a band in a very good place. The Pop Kids is instant and classic PSB for me. The Dictator Decides is full of that “joie de drama” that is a staple of their’s. Groovy is disco perfection! I love the way they make EDM sound intelligent and artful. The builds on Say It To Me are simply exciting.

I find the lyrics on over half of the song to be severely wanting, they elevate “Winner” to Ivor Novello status. I was cold to Electric when it was released and on repeated listens warmed up to a lot of it, this one is just the Emperor’s New Clothes. I loathe the ”lyrics” and most of the music honestly leaves me cold, it sounds like very early OMD to me (which is another sound I am not fond of). I want to unhear this one. Based on what I see on FB I am in a very small minority in not liking this one.

I can understand where you come from when you compare it to Electric. I went in expecting much the same, but Super surprised me on how much I remembered after a first listen through and many of the tracks have really stood out to me. It is a very “purpose built” album with Tennant and Lowe quite explicit that they weren’t done re-exploring the dance floor. I am all for another album of PSB pop classics where the words wrap themselves around the music rather than the other way around, but Super works for me.

Tim – I feel bad for not having a PSB thread, but it could take me years to get this album. Hell, I wanted to buy “Electric” in a store [full retail!] before PSB played in town in 2014 at Moogfest, but there were no copies to be found in town so I didn’t.

Sorry to derail the thread. We should be back to the ABC topic
Speaking of the new album, you get Viva Love when you preorder the mp3 album via Amazon. With Super, by the time the album came out I think three tracks were available. I would be thrilled if that would become the norm, even moreso with this album. The Fry/Dudley connection has me really happy.

A few years back Blank and Jones were given access to the ZTT masters to do a remix album of ZTT acts (which was FGTH heavy in the content) with the caveat that the mixes had to sound period specific. It would be great if they could be unleashed on the ABC masters, particularly the original Lexicon of Love. The original songs have such great economy to them however if B&J could pull off the same quality for a SoS 80’s ABC project I would be there with money in a flash.

Tim – Well, in the singles-free-hell-on-earth we now inhabit, giving preview access to tracks ahead of the release is the least they can do! Good call on a Blank + Jones ABC retro mix project! Tell the parties involved that concept!

Monk – this is perhaps the most earnest and enjoyable reads about this release that I’ve read yet. It is more of an event 34 years in the making, than just another record release. Though “Viva Love” is more “Abracadabra” (not a snub, but rather an observation) than anything ever to come out of 82’s Lexicon, I truly hope that the LOLII delivers on a fraction of what’s expected of this record…. I met up with Martin and his wife Julie last August in Vegas. He told me about this record and its intention. I smugly, though regrettably, replied “That’s impossible.” And now here we are, only a few weeks away from making the full circle that defined ABC.

Well this is going to be less nail biting than I expected. The re-vamp of Viva Love is one of those hope springs eternal moments. It gives me a belief that Martin knows what he’s doing here. As a new track back in 2004, I found it disappointing and a bit of a throwaway from the Abracadabra sessions (another album I like much more than most, I fear). Here it is re-jigged with just the right amount of LOL magic dust and tension. It’s pretty darn impressive actually.
I have to be honest in that I am a HUGE fan of Beauty Stab. It is no where near as disappointing as anyone has ever written. I have probably listened to it as much as Lexicon Of Love over the past 30 odd years and still enjoy every moment of it.
As for format buying, I hope there is a CD to be had. The iTunes album is already pre-ordered. Will I buy the vinyl, that remains to be seen.

I originally pre-ordered the cd from Amazon uk, it was 14 pounds at the time. When I saw the digital release over at Amazon us I grabbed that instead. As much as I would like the physical one I guess I am waiting for someone (here hopefully) to give it a review including the liner notes. It’s a lot of money to spend for maybe For a while Amazon was doing pdf’s of the notes for people who bought the mp3 album and that seems to have gone away. It’s a pity, some of us like the art, like knowing who’re we’re listening to and who worked on it.

Tim: Mantrap II: Electric Boogaloo! I just saw recently that vixen Lisa Vanderpump from the video of “Poison Arrow” and “Mantrap” is apparently some horrifying reality TV “star” now! How the modest have fallen!

Thought I’d have a stab (a beauty) at culling tracks from ABC’s post LOL albums to make a cohesive follow up album to the greatest pop album of all time. Here goes…
1. S.O.S
2. Be Near Me
3. Spellbound
4. King Without A Crown
5. Love Is Strong
6. Between You + Me
7. Peace + Tranquility
8. Love Is Its Own Reward
9. Caroline
10. Paper Thin
11. If I Ever Though You’d Be Lonely

No the only song I am still dithering on is Peace + Tranquility. I fully stand behind King Without A Crown and Love Is Its Own Reward and I bookended this Imaginary Album with the two most amazing moment from Beauty Stab. I have a sneaking suspicion that they were originally written with Lexicon Of Love In mind…. Feel free to take me to task…

Echorich – brilliant selections! They are all alphabetically definitive of the suave romanticism that is ABC. Nothing can sweeten a pop song like the magic of Martin Fry with his golden throat and the polished production that is expected from everything he does. I might add “Rage and then Regret” to the list as well from Alphabet City which Martin poetically coins as “the album that wears the cuffs.” And if anyone ever wondered if Fry can carry his own without a supplemental symphony, they might consider “United Kingdom” from Beauty Stab – the only track in ABC history that features Fry and one lonely piano.

Where’s Caroline from?
There’s a lot of good tracks out there, any LoL part deux without Ocean Blue is lacking in my book, I’m a huge fan of Love Conquers All, there’s a David Morales mix out there that fades out, never could figure why, it’s kind of like an edited extended mix and the Blank and Jones mix is really sound, too. You could make a neat sonic typtec (sp?) between SOS, the B&J mix of Love Conquers All and Ocean Blue

Tim – so I didn’t want my Imaginary LOL 2 to be a greatest hits album as much as a have a sort of, dare I say it, conceptual feel. I am a HUGE Abracadabra fan and Love Conquers All may be the best Blue Eyed House song EVER. I swapped out Ocean Blue for Between You And Me for the lyrical and emotional power of the latter – for me at least.
Jeremy – I agree with United Kingdom, but I was going more for the “powers of love” (No FGTH reference meant there) over anything else. It’s why Unzip isn’t chosen either… I dithered on Rage And The Regret as well…It made the first two cuts, but the song that always spoke to me the most on Alphabet City was King Without A Crown.
Monk – I’m curious where your Imaginary LOL 2 might go. I have another Imaginary album in mind that is the harder, more glam side of ABC/Martin Fry which I know you and I would find a good deal of agreement on.

Echorich – I think you are definitely seeing eye to eye with me on the glamrok side of ABC. It’s what I really appreciated a ton when it manifested big time on “Skyscraping.” As you may be aware, I bought “Abracadabra” for $1 in the Camelot Music cutout bins in the 90s and quickly divested myself of it. Maybe I should revisit those two albums I never liked?

I wholly understand why many don’t care for Abracadabra. It is unapologetic in its nod to House Music and has a bit less of the ABC DNA of Up!. But it is such a confident record. I also think it’s a wonderfully produced album. David Bascombe was a genius pick.

Tim – for got to mention – Caroline is from Traffic. I just love that album. And I agree about the D. Morales remix of Love Conquers All – it is odd that Paul Dakeyne from DMC was brought in to “edit” this gorgeous mix. I do love David Bascombe’s Extended Remix as well.

Lexicon Of Love Mach 2
Side 1
Avenue A
When Smokey Sings
Think Again
Mythical Girl (with Arthur Baker)
Rage & Then Regret
Love’s A Dangerous Language
Who Can I Turn To?
Side 2
Be Near Me
SoS
Love Conquers All (Blank & Jones)
Ocean Blue
North
One Day
Avenue Z

I like the use of Avenue A & Avenue Z to give that Reprise feel. Mythical Girl was a VERY ABC song and I think that’s what Arthur Baker was going for. It really harkens back to an early 80s feel, taking some of the best sounds from LOL and Zillionaire into account.

Merge is a pretty solid album from start to finish I can take or leave Jimmy Somerville & I don’t even mind his track on this one and I particularly like the track that closes the album (the Etienne Daho track)

Tim – I’m on the side of leaving Jimmy Somerville. I could never stand his singing. Bronski Beat was appealing in many ways but I could not get past that voice. When he went solo, it allowed me to finally enjoy Bronski Beat! I am a big Etienne Daho fan, but I’m about 15 years in arrears as to his most recent albums! Buy “Pop Satori” and thank me profusely!

“Kiss Me Goodbye,” another track from Abracadbra era if i am not mistaken, is up on Amazon for those who pre-ordered the MP3 album.
I’ve seen a couple reviews of the album on UK media and they have been quite positive.

I would very much like to have the cd for the art and liner notes but I couldn’t bring myself to pay $20 for that so I went for the MP3 option via Amazon. having said that today I also received a very rare Japanese cd single only of Swing Out Sister’s “We Can Make It Happen,” completing my collection of items from “Shapes and Patterns.” I spent way too much on that but 21 years of trying to find a deal made me finally push the button and just buy the thing already.

LOL2 is not even guilty pleasure territory. I would say, after listening to it for about six hours at work today, that 1/2 of it is solidly good instantly engaging, check the mp3 player for the title, enjoyable pop music. 1/4 maybe is grower. There’s one track I can entirely live without (The Singer and the Song) and a couple that may or may not be growers. Overall it is a very respectable effort in his work and I am glad that I bought it. I may even snarkily say that it’s the first SUPER album that I’ve bought this year.

Tim – I can’t stop listening to it. I slipped into my iTunes last night around 11:30pm and by 1:45 I had listened to it three times. I am stuck on Singer Not The Song (was humming and singing under my breath at work all day), Kiss Me Goodbye, Ship Of The Seasick Sailor and Ten Below Zero. I’m curious which track you find a miss and which should have been an instrumental. I have candidates in mind…

And I read further and found the answer to my querry. I was afraid Singer Not The Song might be the answer. It is Fry on his glam horse and I am a really big fan of that. It also has a feel of a Beauty Stab era track with a very 2016 lyric.

Ten Below Zero. I’ve been trying not to name names as to not prejudice ears that haven’t heard it yet. I’ve been updating my integrated ABC playlist and should have a new one tomorrow that is pretty robust. Loving the new album, best comeback since Alpha’s stellar release of ”Loving Nobody” last year.

The only albums that have been as instantly likable for me in the last couple of years have been Richard Hawley’s and Alpha’s. It’s really refreshing to have a new album that you just want to listen to and turn around and start it over right away.

SimonH – I have not heard a disparaging word from any quarter regarding ABC and most of what I am seeing are near-raves. Of course, I’ve been saying that for 19 years about Mr. Fry. I guess it took blatant marketing to put it over this time. A tip of the hat to UMG.

SimonH – Anything with the title LOL2 just can’t be brickwalled! The original was a sonic watershed of its time and even though Horn was not involved I’m certain that the sonic stakes were considered to be an important factor to live up to.

I just snagged the “Skyscraping” cd single, mostly for the track “Skydubbing.”
If any of the Post Punk Acolytes here are thinking of grabbing this and are curious what it sounds like here is a capsule review. I was thrilled to see a running time of over seven minutes. The track is very reminiscent of the “No Protection” Mad Professor remix album of Massive Attack’s “Protection.” It’s an interesting dubby track and certainly the oddest ABC mix I’ve yet acquired.

I haven’t seen anything official or any fan mixes, culture on Soundcloud, Hearthis and even YouTube for that sort of thing isn’t what it used to be (even compared to a year ago). I did make a slightly extended Viva Love for my expanded LoL playlist. If you trim the intro of the song you can mix in the reprise at the front of it, works quite nicely.

I know, I know. The funny thing is that fan mixes from certain vintages are better than the commercial releases. There’s one guy who guys by the name St. Ken and he does some really good stuff but he’s got the same beat through everything he does. Drives me nuts.

By the way, if you ever find yourself working on that ABC BSOG I would be happy to loan out to you my tour program from 1983. There’s some stuff in there that you could probably use for creating your liner notes.

When we last spoke you mentioned that you were about to start working on a new studio album. At what stage are you at with that?

Well I have written six songs. I’m currently writing and collaborating with a number of people. We have a couple of songs called Look Good Tonight and The Life And Times Of A Troubadour together with a few autobiographical songs which will be on the album. It is actually all starting to come together. I didn’t want to leave it ten years until the next album.

Do you have a release date in mind?

It will most probably be released sometime in the early part of next year.

Tim – Nice catch there! I’m amazed that he’s already going head first into the next album. The last 20 years have been tough to be an ABC fan, though the albums have been worth the wait. [I still need LOLII, if you can believe it!] I think the idea of Kid Creole and the Coconuts opening for ABC is extreme value for money! Good call on picking them to open, Mr. Fry! How I’d love to see either gent in my lifetime.

I don’t mind the dry spells as long as when an album comes out at least 2/3rd of it is what I call “worth my money.” In all honesty, I would rather buy a mid-priced EP with several solid songs on it than a full cd where I only like maybe 60% of the tracks. They funny thing with the last ABC player is that the tracks I didn’t like were ones that other PPM commentators liked bunches.

What would be REALLY NICE would be if Mr. Fry could work out some decent US distribution.
I snagged LoL II as a MP3 pre-order on Amazon and it’s gone now. They had DeLucixon up as the same for a very brief time, which is great if someone is unwilling to pay for an import version of the physical copy. Then, that too, went away, as mysteriously as it arrived.

The distribution end just boggles me, I’m working on the various Everything But The Girl deluxe reissues right now. Now honestly I prefer the physical product on these, they’ve really it the perfect sweet spot on content both physically and for sonic content.
But, for buying the physical ones, a lot of them are out of print it seems and prices, particularly for the first two albums, are reaching crazy levels on the used market. Over on Amazon UK they’re available as MP3 but being a yank I am unable to order that product. I just shake my head, I thought the whole point of selling a product was, you know, you make something and people give you money for it!

I saw these sites years ago and haven’t been back to them in ages.
if you are an ABC nutter you may want to seek out the UK12” of King Without a Crown. I am not one to rave on how this or that vinyl beats the cd but hands down, that one just sounds incredible, especially the live tracks on the b-side.
Long time ABC fan here, have done my own deluxified takes on most of their albums including the odd mix of my own making here and there. Still looking, 25 some odd mixes in, for the ultimate Look of Love mix.

Thanks for the comments. i’ve been a fan of abc since lexicon of love came out, i have followed them pretty much through their whole career, and seen them live 3 times through the late 90’s and 00’s.

a few additions:i have most of the odds and ends mixes you’re talking about.
missing:
1) duet on the indian compilation, does it really exist? maybe someone needs to ask mr fry about that
2) you mentioned a 2000 EP on itunes with some re-recordings, i haven’t found any mention or trace of these mixes
3) the rumored and possibly non-existent first early version of ‘how to be a zillionaire’ album promo mentioned on wikipedia

there’s an excellent dj mix of look of love called :
ABC — The Look of Love (jimmy gomez dmc remix), which should have been
official, i also know that there’s a free release of this,
Basement Jaxx – “Look of Love (Felix Jaxx Booty Remix)”

I lost the thread that had the ABC orchestrated concert video conversation going, if one searches on YouTube for ABC & Zagreb Stars Orchestra you are able to find a nice pro-shot concert with Anne Dudley. Not sure how I found it but I grabbed a copy while it was up, these things can be here today, gone tomorrow you know.